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Onna Bugeisha Blog Tools Rate This Blog
Creation Date: 07-22-2009 02:01 PM
ninjaqutie
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From a big fish in a small pond to a tiny fish in a big sea.
Blog Info
Status: Public
Entries: 86
Comments: 159
Views: 257,221

In General The few, the proud... the three! Entry Tools Rate This Entry
  #16 New 07-29-2009 10:55 AM
Well, after five long days of not attending class (went to visit family) I finally made my return. YAY! Yesterday it was a cool 108 degrees Fahrenheit here. Needless to say our AC lacking dojo was quite warm. I showed up to class to find only myself and Sensei. I got changed and Sensei informed me that we would probably be working on weapons. I was pretty excited at the prospect of having a private lesson. Alas, that did not happen. The new guy showed up, so Sensei informed me that we would be working on body arts tonight. No big deal. As the two of us lined up, we heard the familiar gravel crunching sound and it turned out to be one of my sempai's (a 5th kyu). So it became the three musketeers for the class.

We started off with a light stretching and worked on our forward rolls as the new person still doesn't quite have them down. I quite enjoy forward rolls and don't mind the extra time trying to get mine to be as smooth and quiet as possible. After working on that for a while, sensei had us partner up and work on a few extension exercises. After that, we worked on ai hanmi ikkyo. I discovered that I am better on my left side then my right (despite being right handed). For some reason, it just isn't as effective. Maybe I am not coming over the top as much as I do on the left. Or perhaps, I am not utilizing my hips the same way from one side to the other. This is something I will have to figure out on my own.

After that, we worked on gyaku ...More Read More
Views: 1615 | Comments: 2


In General Sensei said my aikido sucks… Entry Tools Rate This Entry
  #15 New 07-23-2009 12:46 PM
OKAY…. so he didn't exactly say that. That is more of my interpretation of his words. HAHA. Yesterdays class wasn't terribly bad. A good thing was that there was another female in class (3rd Kyu), the bad thing is that she is sort of a frienemy. I must admit though, she is growing on me. Since the new kid wasn't in class yesterday, we worked with the jo. We did some basic attacks & responses. After a while sensei had one of us put down the jo and one person would grab onto the jo and the other person would throw them. We did one where you end up throwing them into a forward roll and we did another one where they basically end up being thrown via shihonage.

It was actually quite the learning experience because afterwards, we did the same throw without the jo (uke grabbed both wrists). It actually brought an entirely new perspective to the throws. Sensei scolded me on quite a few things. I don't find his corrections to be discouraging at all. Instead I feel honored that he is even taking the time to correct me. It makes me feel like I have some potential. It seems to me that the less potential they see in you, the more they leave you alone. Don't get me wrong, everyone gets corrected and receives attention, but some receive more then others. I suppose you could look at it from another point of view and state "The one's receiving corrections the most have the worst aikido, thus the more attention." To which I can only admit that it could very well be a poss ...More Read More
Views: 1744 | Comments: 2


In General The downward sprial of my aikido Entry Tools Rate This Entry
  #14 New 07-22-2009 02:18 PM
NOTE: First off... we are now up to date! WHOOT! The previous entries cover all of June and most of July

Well, last nights class wasn't half bad. We started off with quite a bit of stretching. One of my favorite stretches is when we lay on our backs, with our butts against the wall with our legs extended up towards the ceiling. Then, we lower our legs out to the side and let gravity determine our stretch. Because I had stretched before class, I was quite surprised at how far my legs actually went! If this keeps up, a straddle will be back in my repertoire in no time. WHOOHOO! I haven't been able to do straddles or splits in some time because of my lack of stretching.

Usually in our Tuesday class we tend to focus on weapons (at least in the summer), but since we have a new kid, Sensei decided to focus on body arts today. After our warm up, we worked on our forward ukemi. It is actually one of the few things that I have become comfortable with. When I first started, Sensei would always correct my forward ukemi (my previous style did things a little differently). Well, after a lot of hard work and focus, I am proud to say that I am even noticing a difference in my ukemi! My main problem, which I have fixed for the most part is keeping my arms extended into a ball. I used to collapse and Sensei was always afraid I would bash my head. That never really happened though since that was what was ingrained in me previously. I must say though, my new way of rolling feels a lo ...More Read More
Views: 1304


In General Sweatin' it out Entry Tools Rate This Entry
  #13 New 07-22-2009 02:17 PM
Saturday's Iaito class went alright. We worked on several kata: Shohato, Sato, Uto, Atarito, Inyoshintai, Ryuto, Jyunto, Iwanami, Ukifune Gaeshi, Noarashi Gaeshi, the partnered form of Noarashi Gaeshi and finished off the class with Batto. Overall, class wasn't terribly bad. Sensei gave me some things to work on. My back was a bit sore, but it didn't really affect me too much.

Things to fix:
1.) Inyoshintai: don't stay down so low
2.) Sato & Uto: draw while you rise & turn, so that when you are facing forward you are ready to draw
3.) Ryuto: On the final cut, make sure your legs are bent and you are on the balls of your feet


Aikido went alright. The more I go to class, the more I realize just how crappy my technique is! Seriously, aren't you supposed to get better the more you train? Instead I leave feeling worse. This however does not stop me from wanting to go back, but it does lead to moments of frustration which culminates with me mentally mumbling to myself or shaking my head. There were 5 of us in class and like normal, I was the only female. For some reason, all the females in the dojo have taken a hiatus. Where they went.... no one knows. Sensei said a couple should be coming back soon, but no appearances as of yet. One girl will be going back to college sometime in a few weeks.

Anywho, we worked a lot on sankyo, but we also did some shihonage. Oh and we did iriminage for a very short tiny bit. :O) For sankyo, we worked on it from katatedori ai hanmi a ...More Read More
Views: 1389


In General Stop trying to be so small! Entry Tools Rate This Entry
  #12 New 07-22-2009 02:16 PM
Wednesday's class went well. It was nice because there were only three of us. I always feel like I get more out of a class like that because sensei is watching your every move. We worked on a lot of different things from shomenuchi and katatedori. We worked on ikkyo, sankyo, kotegaeshi, iriminage.... and I believe a few other things as well. The one I had the most problems with was ikkyo from gyaku hanmi from katatedori. We did a variation that I had never done before. You tenkan around and then lead uke's arm up in an turning arc (spinning them around to face you like you do in tai no henko) and then drop it down and pull their arm towards your center and then do ikkyo from there. For some reason I just could NOT get the stupid arc to work right. I think I got it right once out of 8 tries. It was quite pathetic. HAHA.

While working with my husband (I don't remember what technique) he threw me a little strange and I wasn't able to get out of my own way. Somehow I managed to land on my knee and it hurt quite a bit. Every time I got up the rest of the night I felt this shooting pain. I ignored it and trained away. :O)

NOTE: The other guy in class (one of the people I mentioned who will be testing for black belt next summer) had an injured knee from that class as well. I told my husband of this and thought nothing more of it. Just that both of us happened to land wrong. My husband said "Maybe I threw both of you wrong.". Hhm... could be but that thought never once occured ...More Read More
Views: 1426 | Comments: 2


In General I felt comfortable for once Entry Tools Rate This Entry
  #11 New 07-22-2009 02:16 PM
Last nights class wasn't bad. For some reason, the entire way to class I felt weird. Almost like I was dizzy or something, but I wasn't. Don't worry though, I wasn't driving. :O) 5:30 rolls around and all of us grab our bokken and line up. We start off with a bunch or strengthening exercises with the bokken and go over basic cuts, movement and we did a few suburi kata as well. I didn't do too bad with these, but I did get mixed up on one. That was only the second week that I have done this, so I am not terribly upset that I didn't get it on a regular basis. The fact that I got it at all a few times is good enough for me right now. Haha.

After that, we put the bokkens down and worked on shihonage from katatedori gyaku hanmi. We must have done about four different variations of shihonage. Most of the variations I haven't done before either. I am proud to say that I was completely comfortable with all but one of the variations. My technique wasn't perfect, but I felt comfortable and didn't feel lost. The one technique that I was having a bit of trouble with I understood what I was supposed to do, but for some reason, I ended up too far infront of my partner. I guess I was taking a big step one way and I tiny step coming back. It was only happening on my right side too. So who knows, but I will get that worked out in due time. All I know is that shihonage is one of the techniques that I seem to get for the most part. It just comes more natural to me then some of the other tec ...More Read More
Views: 1265


In General I have thought about it.... Entry Tools Rate This Entry
  #10 New 07-22-2009 02:15 PM
Well, I have decided to write less frequently since it seems like I keep repeating myself. The past couple weeks of class have went well. Last week we got a new student. He seems pretty nice. The one hing that I realized by watching and working with him was that I have been progressing. It is hard to realize how far you are moving forward until something comes up and shows you what you looked like in the past.

A few things of interest that happened:
I was uke for one of the sempai's who was teaching class. He used me for kotegaishi and kaitenage. I did okay as uke, but I didn't do as good as I would have liked. It is kind of hard to tell what he wants out of you sometimes.
After that adventure, I worked with another sempai (black belt) for kotegaishi. Well, I guess he thought my ukemi was alright because he decided that it was time for me to start doing the breakfalls for this technique. He went slow, which was nice for me to figure out where I would be going, but at the same time, it was harder on me because I had to throw myself into the fall, which makes it a harder fall I think. I was surprised to discover that my slaps were pretty good and I didn't have a hard time getting my body to do what it needed to. It just happened on its own. I guess some things just stick with you after so many years of being thrown.

Sensei had us working with a lot of weapons lately. We have been using the bokken and the jo. He is trying to get us used to the diagonal motions. I st ...More Read More
Views: 1224


In General Saturday... another day NOT to sleep in! Entry Tools Rate This Entry
  #9 New 07-22-2009 02:14 PM
Today I found it a harder to get out of bed then normal. It just seems wrong to have to get up before 7:30 a.m. on a Saturday. Of course, once I am at the dojo, sleep is the last thing on my mind even if I am a little sleepy.

Our iaido class was bigger then usual as we had 8 people. It was actually nice because I had 4 other people to do kata with who start in seiza like I do. The last couple of classes I was the only one doing them from seiza, so I didn't have anyone else to look at to make sure I was doing it right. We worked on several of the same katas that we have been lately: shohatto, sato, uto, atarito, inyoshintai, ryuto (done this maybe once before), gyakuto (first time doing this one) and batto. I definately need work on ryuto and gyakuto since I have very little experience with them. Inyoshintai was a little better, but I still need work. In fact, anything and everything that has to do with iaito requires a great deal of work on my part. :O) One important thing I need to remember is to keep my feet in line with my knee. My feet tend to be in towards my center as if I am not really moving them after rising from seiza (ex. shohatto)

Aikido went well. Again it was a bit crowded, but it is nice to have so many people there. Everything we worked on were from shomenuchi and we did swariwaza & tachiwaza. We worked on ikkyo, iriminage, kaitenage, sumiotoshi and a few other things may have been done that I don't remember. All in all, it wasn't a bad class. Sensei h ...More Read More
Views: 1576


In General Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday Entry Tools Rate This Entry
  #8 New 07-22-2009 02:14 PM
Tuesday's class went well. We worked with the bokken, which I am more comfortable with then the jo. We actually worke with the shinai's as well on some things just in case we happened to whack our partner. :O) No one did get whacked though, which is a good thing.

Wednesday's class was fun too. Not too many people were there, which gave us more room to train. We worked on kotegaishi, ikkyo and kaitenage from morotedori (both hands on same forearm). I didn't do bad on ikkyo and the kaitenage one I was comfortable with. For some reason during class I could NOT get the kotegaishi in class though! The funny thing was, as soon as class was over, I suddenly got it (mentally). I asked my husband to grab me and I was able to do it all the sudden. Very strange!

Iaido class went well. We worked on several kata. My bokken with saya is still out of comission, so I used my regular bokken. No saya made my training a little bit easier, though I felt like I was suddenly cheating since I didn't have it. We worked on: shohatto, sato, uto, atarito, inyoshintai, jyunto, batto, iwanami, ukifune gaeshi, noarashi gaeshi, utsusemi and one other kata which I can not remember. I am getting more comfortable with most of the kata. The only one I still struggle with is ryuto. I will get the hang of it eventually though. Sato is also giving me a tiny bit of trouble because I have to pull my center forward with my left leg forward and I just haven't done it enough on that side. My right side is a li ...More Read More
Views: 946


In General Thursday & Sunday Entry Tools Rate This Entry
  #7 New 07-22-2009 02:13 PM
Class is still going well. Thursday in aikido we worked on a lot of ikkyo, nikyo and iriminage. I didn't do terribly bad, but my technique still needs plenty of work. I figure with each class that I go to, my technique is getting just a tad bit less horrible looking. HAHA. Although I am used to being an example from my previous style, it is somewhat humbling for me to truly be a beginner all over again. I hope that sensei can see that I am truly putting forth an effort.

Saturday in aikido we worked on ikkyo and kotegaishi from tsuki, shomenuchi and of course katatedori. We worked on all these from swariwaza and tachiwaza. I think sensei has been working on these because a few of us will be ready to test soon and a few of the things we have been working on are on the test.

The things that are tested for 5th kyu are:
Katatedori Gyakyu Hanmi (Ikkyo, Shihonage & Kaitenage: Uchi & Soto)
Katatedori Ai Hanmi (Ikkyo)
Katadori (Ikkyo)
Shomenuchi (Swariwaza & Tachiwaza Ikkyo)

I think there are a few other things in there as well, but they aren't listed on the sheet. I think he threw in some iriminage and kotegaishi as well.

Iaido went alright as well. We worked on shohato, sato, uto, atarito and inyoshintai. The one I have the most problems with in inyoshintai. I keep stepping through instead of just sliding my back leg up. Argh. I will work on it and get it eventually. I got to use my new bokken. I am going to call the company and ask if I can have an exchange. I rea ...More Read More
Views: 1159



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